Mexico, May 18, 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service said it is continuing to review for downgrade
the ratings of BBVA Bancomer, S.A. and Banco Santander
(México), S.A. following the downgrade of their
parent banks, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.,
and Banco Santander S.A. of Spain, respectively.
The ratings that remain on review for possible downgrade for BBVA Bancomer,
S.A. are the standalone bank financial strength rating (BFSR)
of C+, the long term global local currency deposit rating of
A1, the long term global local currency senior unsecured debt rating
of A1, the long term global local currency subordinated debt rating
of A2, and the long term global local currency junior subordinated
debt rating of A2 (hyb).
The BFSR of C assigned to Banco Santander (México), S.A.
also remains on review for downgrade.
The long term global local currency issuer rating of A2 assigned to Hipotecaria
Nacional S.A. de C.V.; the long term
global local currency issuer rating of A1 assigned to Casa de Bolsa BBVA
Bancomer S.A. de C.V.; the long term
foreign currency senior unsecured debt rating of A1, the long term
foreign currency subordinated debt rating of A2, the long term foreign
currency junior subordinated debt rating of A3 (hyb) assigned to BBVA
Bancomer, S.A. Texas Agency; and the long term
foreign currency subordinated debt rating of A2 assigned to BBVA Bancomer,
S.A., Grand Cayman Branch also remain on review for
downgrade.
For more information on the parents' rating actions, please
see Moody's 17 May 2012 press release on the Spanish banks. Moody's
expects to conclude the review by mid June.
The following ratings remain on review for possible downgrade since 24
February 2012:
BBVA Bancomer, S.A.
Bank Financial Strength Rating of C+
Long term global local currency deposit rating of A1
Long term global local currency senior unsecured debt rating of A1
Long term global local currency subordinated debt rating of A2
Long term global local currency junior subordinated debt rating of A2
(hyb)
Hipotecaria Nacional S.A. de C.V.
Long term global local currency issuer rating of A2
Casa de Bolsa BBVA Bancomer S.A. de C.V.
Long term global local currency issuer rating of A1
BBVA Bancomer, S.A. Texas Agency
Long term foreign currency senior unsecured debt rating of A1
Long term foreign currency subordinated debt rating of A2
Long term foreign currency junior subordinated debt rating of A3 (hyb)
BBVA Bancomer, S.A., Grand Cayman Branch
Long term foreign currency subordinated debt rating of A2
The following rating remains on review for possible downgrade since 15
March 2012:
Banco Santander (México), S.A.
Bank Financial Strength Rating of C
For additional information on bank ratings, please refer to the
webpage containing Moody's related announcements http://www.moodys.com/bankratings2012
RATING RATIONALE
The ongoing review of the ratings of BBVA Bancomer and Santander México
will take into account Moody's global assessment of the correlation
between a bank's standalone credit profile and that of the sovereign
in which the bank is domiciled. The review will also factor in
the linkages between Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.'s
ratings and its Mexican subsidiary, which may affect BBVA Bancomer's
local currency deposit and debt ratingscarva, the local currency
issuer ratings of Casa de Bolsa BBVA Bancomer and Hipotecaria Nacional,
and the foreign currency debt ratings of BBVA Bancomer's Cayman
Islands subsidiary and Texas agency.
The review of sovereign linkages will take into account (i) the extent
to which the bank's business depends on the domestic macroeconomic
and financial environment, (ii) the degree of reliance on market-based,
and therefore more confidence-sensitive funding, and (iii)
the direct or indirect exposures to domestic sovereign debt compared to
the capital base of the banks. Moody's discusses this assessment
further in the rating implementation guidance "How Sovereign Credit Quality
May Affect Other Ratings" published on 13 February 2012 and in the special
comment "Banks and Sovereigns: Risk Correlations Constrain
Standalone Bank Credit Assessments" published on 30 April 2012.
The last rating action taken on BBVA Bancomer, its subsidiaries,
and sister companies was on 24 February 2012 when Moody's placed
on review for downgrade the standalone BFSR and long term global local
currency debt, deposit, and issuer ratings, and the
foreign currency debt ratings of its Texas agency and Cayman Islands subsidiary.
Other ratings remained unchanged.
The last rating action taken on Santander México was on 15 March
2012 when Moody's placed on review for downgrade the standalone
BFSR. Other ratings remained unchanged.
The methodologies used in this rating were "Bank Financial Strength Ratings:
Global Methodology" published in February 2007, and "Incorporation
of Joint Default Analysis into Moody's Bank Ratings: A Refined Methodology"
published in March 2012. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of these methodologies.
Based in Mexico City, Mexico, BBVA Bancomer had total assets
of Mx$1,236 billion (US$97 billion) and equity of
Mx$116 billion (US$9 billion) as of 31 March 2012.
Based in Mexico City, Mexico, Santander México had
total assets of Mx$782 billion (US$61 billion) and equity
of Mx$91 billion (US$ 7 billion) as of 31 March 2012.
Moody's National Scale Ratings (NSRs) are intended as relative measures
of creditworthiness among debt issues and issuers within a country,
enabling market participants to better differentiate relative risks.
NSRs differ from Moody's global scale ratings in that they are not globally
comparable with the full universe of Moody's rated entities, but
only with NSRs for other rated debt issues and issuers within the same
country. NSRs are designated by a ".nn" country
modifier signifying the relevant country, as in ".mx"
for Mexico. For further information on Moody's approach to national
scale ratings, please refer to Moody's Rating Methodology published
in March 2011 entitled "Mapping Moody's National Scale Ratings to
Global Scale Ratings".
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
The following Global Scale Credit Ratings are EU endorsed by Moody's
Investors Service Ltd., One Canada Square, Canary Wharf,
London E 14 5FA, UK, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph
3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies.
Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the Moody's
office that has issued a particular Credit Rating is available on www.moodys.com.
- Banco Santander (Mexico), S.A.
- BBVA Bancomer, S.A.
- BBVA Bancomer, S.A. Texas Agency
- BBVA Bancomer, S.A., Grand Cayman Branch
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
have affected the rating. For further information please see the
ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated
entities, obligations or credits satisfactory for the purposes of
issuing these ratings.
Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it
uses in assigning the ratings is of sufficient quality and from sources
Moody's considers to be reliable including, when appropriate,
independent third-party sources. However, Moody's
is not an auditor and cannot in every instance independently verify or
validate information received in the rating process.
Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Rating
Process page on www.moodys.com for further information on
the meaning of each rating category and the definition of default and
recovery.
Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for the last rating action and the rating history. The date on
which some ratings were first released goes back to a time before Moody's
ratings were fully digitized and accurate data may not be available.
Consequently, Moody's provides a date that it believes is
the most reliable and accurate based on the information that is available
to it. Please see the ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com
for further information.
In addition to the information provided below please find on the ratings
tab of the issuer page at www.moodys.com, for each
of the ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the lead rating
analyst and the Moody's legal entity that has issued each of the
ratings.
Felipe Carvallo
Asst Vice President - Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's de Mexico S.A. de C.V
Ave. Paseo de las Palmas
No. 405 - 502
Col. Lomas de Chapultepec
Mexico, DF 11000
Mexico
JOURNALISTS: 001-888-779-5833
SUBSCRIBERS:52-55-1253-5700
Maria Celina?Vansetti-Hutchins
MD - Banking
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's de Mexico S.A. de C.V
Ave. Paseo de las Palmas
No. 405 - 502
Col. Lomas de Chapultepec
Mexico, DF 11000
Mexico
JOURNALISTS: 001-888-779-5833
SUBSCRIBERS:52-55-1253-5700
Moody's continues to review BBVA Bancomer and Santander M?xico for downgrade
